


Blood Legacy

by SexuallyMonsterous (Alli_Bialystock)



Series: Tumblr Prompts [3]
Category: Silicon Valley (TV)
Genre: Angst, Blood, Implied/Referenced Suicide, M/M, Pre-Slash
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-09
Updated: 2015-11-09
Packaged: 2018-04-30 18:45:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,373
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5175434
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Alli_Bialystock/pseuds/SexuallyMonsterous
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Richard finds out that Erlich can't stand the sight of blood.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Blood Legacy

**Author's Note:**

> Well this got very dark. Tumblr prompt from ruthiehall.

“Hey, Erlich, I know you said we were only allowed to use the big spoons, and I wasn’t sure if this counted as medium or – Erlich?”

Richard looked down, confused. Erlich was sitting on the floor of the kitchen, one hand wrapped in his kimono and his eyes on the ceiling. He looked slightly green.

“What’s wrong?” Richard’s eyes dropped to the kimono. “Shit, are you bleeding?”

“Yeah.” Erlich’s voice was strangled. “Cut myself trying to open some Ramen.” 

Richard surveyed the counter. There was a steak knife, a mangled package of Ramen noodles, and a lot more blood that he would have expected. “Oh, uh, fuck. Shit. That looks really bad, Erlich. Are you okay?”

Erlich looked up at Richard. “I’m… actually not entirely sure.”

“What?”

“I haven’t looked at the cut.”

Richard shook his head slightly in disbelief. “Well… look, then. We need to know if you need to go to the hospital or not.”

“I can’t really do that, Richard,” Erlich said mechanically, his teeth gritted in apparent pain.

“Why can’t you?”

“I’m not… overly comfortable with blood.”

Richard stared. If he hadn’t seen the blood on the counter, he would have definitely thought Erlich was kidding. “Erlich, we need to see how bad it is. You might need stitches.”

Erlich nodded. “Yeah, I know.” He glanced briefly at the wad of fabric wrapped around his hand, and his eyes fluttered. “I don’t think I can do it. Can you look?”

“Oh. Uh… I don’t…”

“Richard, I’m not fucking around.” A familiar edge of irritation crept into Erlich’s voice. It was actually pretty comforting in context. “If I look, I’m going to fucking pass out. Now just look at my Goddamn hand.” 

Richard took a deep breath. It astounded him that Erlich would honestly think he was any more capable of looking at a wound. “Okay, alright. Just… unwrap it and let me see.”

Erlich obeyed. Richard’s stomach heaved.

The gash across Erlich’s palm, at least to Richard’s untrained eye, looked absolutely massive. The moment it had been unwrapped, the wound had started gushing rhythmically in time with Erlich’s pulse, pumping blood across Erlich’s fingers. Richard quickly rewrapped it and fought the urge to vomit. “We need to get you to a fucking hospital.”

The car ride to the emergency room was almost as painful as the gash on Erlich’s hand, with Erlich gasping and cursing every time Richard made even the tiniest driving error in the precious Aviatomobile. When they reached the waiting room, Richard was put in charge of filling out the form. Fortunately, the room was fairly empty and they were escorted quickly into a room.

“Are you holding up okay?” Richard asked, chewing on his bottom lip. Erlich was looking paler and paler by the minute.

“Yeah, I think so.” Erlich continued to stare at the ceiling.

“You know,” Richard said, desperate to fill any silence and distract his roommate (he didn’t know if he could handle seeing Erlich faint), “I’m actually surprised blood freaks you out so much. You don’t really seem like the type.”

Erlich narrowed his eyes. “What does that mean?”

“I don’t know, just that you’re usually so, um, I don’t know…”

“I’m not a pussy,” Erlich snapped.

“I didn’t say you were.”

“You were certainly implying it.”

Richard just ducked his head down in response. He should have known that trying to talk would just make it worse.

“It’s not like I’ve always been afraid of blood,” Erlich continued defensively. “I mean, I was never a fan of it, but I could manage. I’ve just had bad experiences with it.” 

Richard snorted a little. “I don’t think anyone has ever had a good experience with blood, Erlich.”

“Yeah, well not everyone has found their best friends’ fucking corpses, so get fucked.”

Richard’s head snapped up. He stared at Erlich, who looked surprised at his own admission. “What?”

“I… Yeah.” Erlich fell silent. “So, you know, blood kind of makes me uncomfortable now.”

Silence fell. Richard had no idea what to say. He had never lost anyone, much less a friend, nor had he ever seen a dead body. Bighead, true crime aficionado that he was, had tried to show Richard pictures from the Black Dahlia murders in high school, but one small glance had been all he’d managed before he’d had to rush to the bathroom to vomit.

“Sorry,” Erlich finally grumbled.

“What?”

“I said I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to, you know. Make things weird. It just slipped out.”

“You don’t have to apologize. I’m the one that was acting like a dick.” Richard watched Erlich kick idly at the floor. “Do you… want to talk about it?”

“It’s not really something I talk about,” Erlich said shortly.

“Well yeah. I get that. But maybe it could, like, help or whatever.” Richard was stuck in a place with absolutely no good options. Silence was uncomfortable. Talking was difficult. Richard didn’t want to hear about a dead body, but Erlich looked so tight-lipped that he thought the guy might give himself an ulcer if he didn’t talk. Richard tried to ignore the fact that a morbid sense of interest had also overcome him.

“There’s nothing to talk about,” Erlich said, eyes glued to the wall. “We were seventeen. He shot himself. I found him in his backyard. That’s really all there is to it.”

Richard’s stomach dropped. “Fuck.” He knew there were no words that he could say that would help, but he tried anyway. “I’m really sorry, Erlich. That’s… fucking terrible.” 

Erlich nodded. He opened his mouth to say something, but was interrupted when the doctor entered the room.

Several stitches later, the two were driving home in silence, Richard feeling too awkward to talk, Erlich apparently embarrassed by his outburst. They pulled into the driveway of the hostel, but neither made any move to get out. 

“Do me a favor and don’t mention this to anyone else,” Erlich murmured. He was staring out the passenger window, and though Richard couldn’t see his face, he could hear a slightly tremor and catch in his breathing. 

“No. Of course not.” 

The two stayed side by side, Erlich trying to muffle his sniffles and Richard tapping idly on the wheel. 

“You know.” Richard faltered, but cleared his throat and tried to continue. “You’re a really strong guy, Erlich.”

“Yeah?” Erlich’s voice wavered.

“Yeah. I don’t think I could have gotten through what you did. It’s really shitty and I’m really sorry it happened, but… I think you handled it a lot better than most people. I mean, I wish you didn’t have to handle it at all, but… I don’t know. I guess I’m sort of proud of you.”

“Really?”

“I mean, yeah.” Richard, almost on impulse, reached out and put a hand on Erlich’s shoulder. Normally, touching people absolutely terrified him, but this felt almost natural. “It’s just, I know you’re worried that you look weak or I think you’re a pussy or something, but I don’t. Like, at all. And… it’s okay. To feel things. To be freaked out by things. You know?” 

Erlich turned to look at him, eyes shining. “You really mean that.”

It wasn’t a question, but Richard nodded anyway. 

Erlich sniffed and rubbed at his eyes. “Thank you, Richard.” He took the hand that Richard had put on his shoulder and squeezed. “I think I needed to hear that.” 

“Any time.” This was the first time that Richard had ever offered unconditional support and meant it.

Erlich’s lips twitched into a small, skeptical smile, his red-rimmed eyes roaming over Richard’s face. The earnestness in Richard’s features was almost overwhelming. “Thank you,” Erlich said again. 

Quickly, so quickly it might not have happened at all, he planted a light kiss on Richard’s fingertips. Before Richard could react, Erlich had hopped out of the car and made his way to the hostel door. From in the car, Richard heard him yell, “What the fuck are you doing with my yogurt, Dinesh?!” 

Richard shook his head and curled his hands into a fist. Even if he hadn’t agreed to tell people about this day, he realized he wouldn’t have wanted to. This was a secret he wanted to keep.


End file.
